Heber R. Bishop
| Heber R. Bishop | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Bishop in Jade, 1898
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| Born |
Heber Reginald Bishop March 2, 1840 Medford, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1902 (aged 62) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Businessman, art collector |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Cunningham |
| Children | 8 |
| Parent(s) | Nathaniel Holmes Bishop Mary Smith Farrar |
| Relatives | Darius Ogden Mills (brother-in-law) |
Heber Reginald Bishop (March 2, 1840 – December 10, 1902) was a noted businessman and philanthropist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His collections of art, especially his noted collection of jade, were donated to museums. "An industrialist and entrepreneur, Mr. Bishop was an active patron of the arts and a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum during its formative years."
Heber Reginald Bishop was born in Massachusetts in 1840 to Nathaniel Holmes Bishop (1789–1850) and Mary Smith Farrar (1806–1881). Bishop's family immigrated from Ipswich, England to the Massachusetts colony in 1685, settling in Medford, Massachusetts.
Bishop received a commercial education, until he moved to Remedios, Cuba at the age of 19 to begin work in the sugar business.
Within two years of moving to Cuba, Bishop had started a sugar refinery business there and began the Bishop & Company, which was sold in 1873 when he returned to the United States, first to his father-in-law's "Cunningham Castle" in Irvington, New York, and later to the Bishop home at 881 Fifth Ave. He then invested in a number of banking firms, iron and steel companies, railroads, and western mining companies.
He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, a director of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, the Chandler Iron Company, the Metropolitan Trust Company of New York, and the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company.
In 1878, his mansion in Irvington on the Hudson River burned down. The building had a front of about 175 feet and was erected in 1863 by his father-in-law.
The Bishop Jade Collection donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1902 included not only artistic pieces from China and Japan, but also selections from Mexico, Central America, the northwest coast of America, Swiss lake dwellings, France, Italy, New Zealand and elsewhere. It included a rare crystal of jadeite and a single mass of nephrite from Jordanów Śląski, formerly known as Jordansmühl, Silesia.
"The one thousand numbers included in the Bishop collection display first a mineralogical section in which samples of the minerals are shown from every known place where they may be found. An archaeological section presents specimens of implements, weapons and ornaments in which the material was wrought. The remainder of the collection embraces the art objects upon which the utmost resources of the glyptic art have been lavished. These have been gathered from China, India, Annam, Europe and New Zealand, and comprise every conceivable object of limpid beauty to which the material lends itself. Vases from China, with graceful lines, elegant shape, and patiently carved decoration; perfect boxes of soft sheen with jewelled decoration from India; and the modern work of Europe they all give the highest presentment of sensuous charm and artistry."
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Wikipedia